Echoes of Silence Original Frontier AU
by Naomi Shihoin
Summary: Please let this operation be successful... The fateful day Koichi is meant to undergo surgery to repair his lost vision, he, his mute brother, boyfriend Takuya and three other children are summoned to... where? The adventure of a lifetime begins. For Aiko's "Lego Cabin" challenge.


**A/N**: This is for Aiko's "Lego Cabin" challenge and is the first of my two entries, with Flaming Platinum from reminiscent-afterthought's "what if" challenge giving away the prompt "what if Koji fell down the stairs and Koichi went to the Digital World with everyone else?"

Inspired by the prologue of remi's _Redealt_ and beta-ed by Dorulumon.

Welcome to an original Frontier AU.

...

_**Echoes of Silence**_

_**Prologue: A Forsaken District**_

Twelve-year-old Kimura Koichi ran his fingers along the Braille of his elementary English textbook, working out what the dots said, before turning towards his brother who was living with him and his parents. The older twin's scarlet turtleneck bunched up slightly at the movement, but Koichi paid it no mind.

"Koji," he called softly and the dark-haired boy bolted up off the sofa he had been lying on. "Are you able to write this down?" Koji tapped his fingers irregularly on the study desk, which Koichi recognized as an affirmative. He had gotten used to this type of communication since they had been younger, so he could recognize how Koji was responding to something without seeing it.

Originally, Koji had been living with their father and his new wife, Koji's step-mother. The step-mother died mysteriously one day and Koji's father decided to renew his relationship with Koichi's mother, who happily accepted.

Her life hadn't been the brightest until her ex-husband apologized for his actions and wanted to reconcile. Kimura Tomoko had always loved her husband, even after they had separated; though that was not the only reason she had accepted this. Her sons meant everything to her and the thought that they may never get to know each other had been saddening. Koji needed his brother and mother with his condition, as it wasn't easy for Kousei to handle something like that.

Koichi, Koji and their parents lived in a modest house in the district of Shibuya. All the children he knew lived in Shibuya; it was one of the best districts there was, according to the council. Koichi would not believe them on their word alone, however. He had taken to wandering the streets during the afternoon, with Koji of course, and what he heard with his heightened hearing shocked the older sibling.

Abused children or pets sat in the streets, crying for help, yelping or yowling in pain as the abuse continued; there were derelict and ruined homes; malnourished animals and even pregnant ones being left to die as their owners abandoned them or they were attacked by their own kind gone feral.

Having Koji communicate all of this to him through thrumming fingers helped Koichi form a new, very bleak outlook on the district he called home. He was saddened by it, truthfully, and often cried himself to sleep. Seeing the things that were happening made his own heart ache as to how anyone could be so cruel. It made him grateful that his parents loved him and Koji to never think of raising a hand against them. He shared these thoughts with Koji when he was too depressed and the younger twin would sit with him, attempting to console him in his own way.

Koji had just finished writing down the answer for his older brother, when both twins looked up as a brunette boy entered the house. "Koji! Koichi~" he sang, lugging the shopping with him. Kanbara Takuya didn't know how he ended up with the responsibility of doing the twins' groceries but, given that Koichi couldn't see and Koji was unable to talk, he didn't mind. They were practically family, since he didn't have any siblings of his own.

Koichi and Takuya had become friends when Koichi was a toddler and Takuya had lost his little brother, Shinya. His mother was the main doctor in the operation that failed, so they had bonded and been friends ever since. When Koji moved in with them, Koichi introduced the two of them and whilst the two hadn't gotten along at first, Takuya cared about him as well.

"In the study, Takuya," Koichi answered quietly, loud enough for the other boy to hear.

Without warning, the storm that had been building all day with black clouds that hung over their heads ominously decided to unleash its fury on the district. Rain lashed out at windows, while lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

As Takuya entered the study, the sound of Koji's tapping fingers caught his attention. He glanced over in the younger twin's direction and listened to the message. "Yeah," he answered, chuckling a bit. "I got here just in time."

Koji chuckled a little. In truth, he was relieved that their friend hadn't gotten caught up in the storm, but he wasn't that great at showing emotions. He had been so discriminated against for being mute that being social wasn't something he was great at.

The storm raged for half an hour, before the lights flickered off. The twins sensed it at the same time and Koichi pushed back his chair and got to his feet as Koji helped him. Takuya was a second behind them in detecting what was going on. The trio felt a weird sensation, as if they were being scanned.

...

The lights came back on and the reaction passed, as if nothing had really happened. Still, Koji looked over at Takuya and drummed out a question on the nearby bookshelf. "I'm fine," the brunette replied shakily, revealing that he wasn't. What had just happened had shaken him up and he wasn't the greatest fan of thunderstorms in the first place, but this was just downright weird and unexpected. However, he tried to give Koji a reassuring smile, albeit it came out more as a grimace.

The tapping became faster as Koji was still worried, but stopped when Koichi placed a hand in his brother's hand.

"It's okay, Koji," the elder responded softly, in an attempt to reassure his little brother. "It was a shock for all of us. Takuya will be fine." He started to walk cautiously over to where Takuya was and placed a hand on his shoulder in order to reassure him. He knew the other was just shocked and he, too, wondered what had happened.


End file.
